You sound like a real peach for wanting to do this.

For your budget, a thrift store and garage sales and craigs list will be your friends. And friends may be your friends as well. When we first moved into our new house we had nothing so we borrowed a lot of excess from family and friends which we returned once we were able to replace them with something we really liked.

First thing that I would do would be to get some fabric on the windows. Many of the thrift stores have donated drapes which would be a good place to start. I have even made flat sheets into window treatments....just string them up through the hem on a rod. Some even come with a border so they can look very nice.

Second, can't tell if that's a corner end table or not, but I would definitely put a lamp on there as nothing warms a room like a lamp. An uplight in the corner by the TV might be good as it will light the ceiling and give a soft glow that's good for TV watching.

And, of course, neatness counts...nothing worse than tired worker coming home to a house that needs more work.

Congrats for making it through medical school and residency! It's a long road, but worth it in the end.

Could you take a couple more pictures to show the layout of the whole room? It looks like your two loveseats are kind of squashed together.

Your room is blank slate and that is fantastic! My favorite look for a TV set-up like yours is this (see below). You can get inexpensive frames and use photos, your kids' art, pictures printed off the internet, etc to fill the frames. If you don't mind spray painting, you can buy different color frames on clearance and spray them the same color.

I love your dog! Border collie?? Congrats to you and your wife. I'm applying for medical school right now and I can only hope I have someone so thoughtful to be there for me during medical school and residency.

But the pup( aussie type?) makes a lovely sofa throw...cozy too.;>)
Agree with annie's advice, especially re. lamps. Yep, Goodwill, etc. is the way to go. Not so easy finding curtains, though. If you do find panels, ( all you need ,as you have shades for privacy) be very, very careful that they hang perfectly straight or resulting look will be messy. Your small space requires order with a minimum of "things." I would fill in the blank wall across from sofa with ceiling high shelves, if you are a diy guy. However, curtain panels and the warmth of added lamps will do much. Check out World
Market , Target, etc.

If you can't find curtains in a thrift store or on CL, I'd get IKEA curtains if you have a store nearby. The most bang for your buck. Get cheap frames at either thrift stores or also at Ikea and frame some of your kids' art or photos. Costco offers very inexpensive photo enlargements.
Also, maybe some plants. Does your place need to be child proof?

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea curtains

Without seeing the rest of your space, I think BOOKSHELVES. If you live near an Ikea, you will see plenty of them pop up Craigslist that will work with your stand. They don't have to "match" the stand, but Ikea is the best bet for configuring different spaces most flexibly.

My children are much more likely to read when they are surrounded by books, so I try to have books all over the house for easy access.

Geokid found the perfect inspiration look for your wall! You can pretty quickly gather enoungh art from GWill, paint frames, add your own art, photos. Hang the t.v. Great! Much easier fix than DIY shelves.

Curtains will definitely warm up the room. Those are tall ceilings. If you have friends in the area, put the word out that you are decorating. I wish I knew someone who would like to go through all my excess stuff.

Since you are SAHD, I assume you have small children at home? Children's art is cheap and colorful. If their art is still a little on the crude side, you can take some wide paper, or blank canvases, a couple of those little bottles of paint from Walmart, and make some contemporary pieces with colors that are perfect for your room.

I love kids' pictures of their family. You can see how they develop from stick figures to more elaborate drawings. Also, that size is usually not really in proportion.

I love everyone's ideas!

I'll toss another for consideration: Are your kids of fingerpainting stage? If so, go to Michaels or another craft store, and pick up some white artists canvases (check for online coupons, or your local flyers--these also regularly go on sale). Then, get some canvas paint in the same section of the store, in your wife's favorite colors, and you and your kids can create some abstract art to hang around the TV. I think you can probably do this for under $75.

I would also echo the other suggestions to hang curtains (curtain rods/panels at WalMart and Target are economical. Simple panels are inexpensive.) A lamp in the corner, too, would warm the space.

Good luck! What a lovely gesture for wife.

First off, welcome to the Garden Web HomeDaddy01!
I love both ideas for your wall.
If you go with the gallery wall and aren't allowed to use nails you can use long quilters or hat pins with the big heads. If put in at about a sixty degree angle they'll easily hold a picture frame and leave only a tiny hole.

There's also 3M Command Strips, but the price of those can add up if you're using allot of them.
Bookshelves are also a great idea because they add storage. Since you're on a tight budget check Target Room Essentials. You can get two of their five shelf units for a little under seventy dollars. Less if you can wait until they have them on sale. Remember to anchor them to the walls so your children don't pull them down on themselves.

One thing you could do very inexpensively is make a picture with fabrics left over from kidâÂÂs outgrown clothing. You can stretch it all over a used yard sale picture or board mount. This is something you could get creative with and do a collage as well. Or, you can do a large collage with scrapes of magazine pictures donated from friends and family. Big ugly pictures from garage sales can be cheap and handy for repurposing over. Google mixed media collage art and you will get lots of inspiration. You can watch how toâÂÂs on youtube. This is something anyone can do. There are also online tutorials on themes or color inspirations for certain rooms. You can also collect small same size garage sale framed pictures for repurpose and hang them all as a groupâ¦individual collages to make one great collage.

This would be an easy one. Simply copy out a picture of the family in black and white paper, rip it into a shape, rip colors or shapes, interests or words out of magazines and surround family picture.
Not this colorationâ¦but you get the idea.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Wed, Nov 13, 13 at 12:13

I've seen some really nice feature walls with painted horizontal stripes. A fun look for a young family. Paint is cheap, and they don't have to be a bold look -- it can be subtle if you keep them close in color.

I'll add another voice to the recommendation of Goodwill for lamps; and spray paint for lamps and/or picture frames. At garage sales, ugly art in cheap frames can be a bargain find (replace the art, obviously). A floor lamp would be nice in that corner.

Large framed wall mirrors can also easily be painted, either with spray paint or brushed-on acrylic. For painting projects, look for "mis-tints" at paint stores, small sample pots from paint stores, or craft paint from craft stores.

My personal preference would be to leave the windows without draperies unless you find something that you really love. One the walls are less bare the windows will look fine, I think.

Keep an eye out at TJ Maxx, Taget or Home Goods for a few interesting throw pillows with a design that picks up the color of your sofa. If you have access to a sewing machine check fabric stores for deals or remnants. Look for interesting textures or bold patterns in colors that work with the sofa. You could recover some of your throw pillows very cheaply. Don't even bother with a zipper. Ask the fabric store staff for advice.

Finally, here's a link about getting huge really cheap prints made from your photography. In a grouping with other art, this technique could be fun.

Here is a link that might be useful: huge cheap prints from your photography

Could you do a little furniture rearranging? Have the two couches face each other. Then get two tall bookcases and put on either side of the TV unit. Drapes....either sheers or drapes and you will have a comfy home. No need for more wall decorations. We can't see the back wall of the living room nor the back of the room you are working with....that would help for more ideas.

I like grandmaof3's idea (and everyone else that has suggested bookcases) as well if it works furniture wise. That's why a couple more pictures of the room would help.

From the expedit your TV is on, it looks like you have an ikea nearby. A couple of Billy bookcases should do the trick...get doors for the bottom half to hide toys and other clutter. Top shelves for display.

Something similar to this set-up.
{{!gwi}}